Marriage license

Yes you do have to be present because you have present particular documents in person. Firstly you have get a Legal Capacity to Marry Certificate from the Canadian Embassy, then you will need your Birth Certificate and any Divorce Decrees. There maybe other documents you will need and you will have to get your fiancé to go to her City Hall and ask about that. They might tell her that you will need a CENOMAR which is a certificate of no marriage in the Philippines but you fiancé will have to get one of those for herself so she should be able to get one for you at the same time. As for the time frame, how long is a piece of string........... in Philippines everything takes time.

           Back in 1994 I had to go to the US Embassy with my wife to get the paperwork saying I was eligible to get married.  I brought along 5 notarized copies of my 1977 divorce decree and my wife brought penpal letters we had exchanged over 2 years.  We had to go to Ilocos Sur and apply for a license.  There was a 10 day wait from the application date until the license was valid.  We spoke to the church and could have had the wedding on November 17, but I was informed that it is bad luck to get married on a date with a number that ends on a down stroke.  So it is unlucky to get married on 1,4,7,9,11,14,17,19,21,24,27, 29, 31.  So we booked 11/18.

            It helped to take 11 days to get things organized, things kinda slow here.  It took a whole day to get all the dresses, a full day to outfit the bride.  When we went to hire the photographer and video maker, we had to go early, be introducing ourselves to everyone, learn everyone's life history and recent goings on within the extended families.  Then it was time for a snack.  Then we discussed what music he would use for the video.  They had no Moody Blues or Neal Young, so I told him I would let the music be up to his professional judgement.  He liked that.  Spent another whole day rounding up all the food for the reception, including 3 pigs and a carabao.  Had a great time.

Hello
I am totally confused since there are so many different answers.
I am Canadian living in Canada, my fiance is in Cebu city and we are planning on getting married in May 2025
I am trying to find out if my fiance goes and applies for a marriage license do i have to present ?
I hope somebody with experience could give me a concrete answer and if i have to be present how long would i have to be there ? - @windsurfer51

A simple Google search will get you to:

ASSISTANCE.PH

https colon stroke stroke assistance.ph/marriage-licenses-philippines/

As you will see you have to be there and also present ID. It may not be a quick process ie you may have to attend some seminar. I was fortunate in that we got married in the US where it was very simple to get the license but we both had to be there. Perhaps your future spouse could go to the clerk's office and personally get the requirements that you need for your region.

@windsurfer51

if you can afford it and are short on time I would suggest hiring an agency/ fixer to assist you.  I used several times for 13A and other matters with good success.  They do the legwork and often times have connections to speed up the process.